I mean you can say everyone is welcome, but it doesn’t always feel that way. Obviously criticism of hook shouldn’t be avoided at all costs on the forum and I don’t think that’s even what most CSers were asking for. At some point fair criticism of Hook and now criticism of Emma got to be pretty negative and it felt to me a bit overwhelmingly so. At that point it stopped being fun to check in on this forum frequently. Also regarding the question about why wouldn’t you want to be labeled as anti-hook, obviously it is fine if as a poster you are, but please try to empathize and understand that’s not how everyone interprets hook’s character or the CS relationship. In my professional life I actually work in gender issues and addressing social norms around toxic masculinities. I manage research projects on combatting gender based violence, especially intimate partner violence. These are issues I care deeply about and I personally don’t interpret the CS relationship as a toxic relationship. Of course there are things you can find to be problematic, every ship on the show is problematic. I am not saying that the way you interpret their relationship is wrong, it’s just different from how I interpret it. We have had different lived experiences and OUAT is a TV show where we only see snipbits of these characters lives and there is lots of room for interpretation. Once upon a time is an escape for me, it’s a fun lighted hearted show with occasional terrible writing, but I got swept up in it and one of the main reasons I continue watching is because of the CS relationship. I enjoy posting about the show on forums, but on this forum at some point it felt the negativity around hook and emma wasn’t just about them but started to feel personal. I guess I would just like to see more empathy on the forum and more acknowledgment that we interpret the characters and ships differently and that doesn’t make us bad people. We are all OUAT fans afterall
And this is exactly what I have been saying for months now. And here’s a first hand experience of a CSer who felt the need to leave bc of all the constant negativity. Sure, everyone is welcome, but why would anybody stay if their favorite characters are being called selfish, a bully, making fun of disabled kids, etc. etc. constantly. But no, that’s not the forums fault…… Get real. I’m glad I could bring a couple people back here. Bc yes, I do think balance is important. Otherwise you only see the same views over and over again and you don’t challenge yourself to see things differently or how others see things. And what happens when you only see the same opinions over and over again? You get bias and a little ignorant. I get that there are plenty of forums that are dedicated for certain ships. But not here. You guys preach that everyone is welcome. Well if that’s the motto, then you need to be more open to characters you personally hate. Otherwise, people leave, and the forums become one-sided and extremely bias. And I honestly would be ok with hating on Hook and Emma all the time. If I felt they deserved it. But people on here have become so harsh against them that is becomes unbearable at times. They don’t even see the good things Hook does now bc they have inherently labeled him as a dirty pirate who corrupted Emma. #BRINGBACKTHEBALANCE